Just took delivery on a '18 "Rich Espresso" Touring. I'll be leasing this after turning in a 2015 Ford C-Max. As you may know Ford is dropping the C-Max so I didn't want to have anything more to do with it. Sadly since it's a decent Hybrid. However the Niro blows it out of the water so far. I put a combined 60-70 miles today and am showing 51 mpg without the vehicle being broken in. The best I could get of n the C-Max combined was just shy of 43 mpg. Of course I'll have more to say when I've lived with the car for awhile. Hybrids are perfect for the LA area since you're usually stop and go on boulevards and Freeways. I had great first impression from the test drive forward. The 18" wheels/tires combo is amazingly good. It's firm in a secure sort of way. It soaks up the bumps on our trashed roads with ease and rolls over speed bumps like nothing else I've ever owned. It must have to do with super well designed and engineered suspension. I also have a very good first impression on the Autonomous features. Most of them are intelligently designed and not annoying. I ran the afternoon with most of them active...Blind Spot Detection/Lane Keeping Assist/Smart Cruise, and I liked all of these assists. There are more to explore and understand, but it's a very smart vehicle. Something to make your Tesla friends jealous since we're talking oh $30k or more less. If you are on the fence about the Niro Touring you shouldn't be it's a very classy and smart Hybrid vehicle.
2018 Niro Touring in the SoCal house
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Congrats on the new Niro and welcome to the community! Glad to hear that the Niro is exceeding your expectations with it's fuel economy. Definitely think that Kia has packaged quite the value into the Niro considering its price. It must have quite the suspension for you to praise it in LA aha.
As you say, you must have the perfect driving situation to get that mpg from a touring. I also have a touring here in michigan and only once got to 49 mpg just for that day. using a phone mileage app at the gas station, I'm lucky to get 40. hoping the warm weather raises it up.
Yes we get mild weather here...upper 70's last 2 days...though that's warm enough to have the air on. Went down to 49 mpg overall with some short trips locally. Also punching the pedal a bit, but not enough to show up on the Aggressive scale. I just want to get a feel for the battery boost that I got from the C-Max which I liked. Again it's hardly broken in yet. With the C-Max as i stated I barely got 43 mpg over the life of the lease so this is already better. I would think your numbers should rise pretty soon. How many miles on yours? Is this your first Hybrid? It took me awhile to get my Hybrid game on with the Ford so I'm able to translate that to the Kia pretty easily. FWIW I'm just going with the Car computer read out, haven't ever used an app, though I should get my wife to try one with her 2004 Subi Forester...our family farm vehicle...amazing as it is.
What dealership did you lease your Niro from? We visited Glendale Kia and First Kia in Simi when we were pricing new Niros .
Galpin Kia...they had the "Rich Espresso" Touring so I jumped on it. I had located another thru Kia of Cerritos that Truecar got me a good price Certificate on but Galpin is really nearby for me in the N. SFV. They matched the Truecar deal so I grabbed it. I was also interested in the "Deep Cerulean" color but I haven't seen any of those within 50 miles or so, at least in the Touring trim. Saw one driving on the 210 yesterday but hard to tell if it was an '18 or not. Galpin sure has a lot of the '17 Launch editions sitting on the lot. Someone could probly get a good deal on those, but I'm not sure if they come with all the new Autonomous features.
There are dozens of vehicle cost tracking apps (all do mpg per fill up and total). I use perhaps the most expensive iPhone app called Road Trip, but while an OK app, it wasn't worth the money for me. Lot's of free apps that may do all you need. A popular one is Fuelly who will also post your fill ups and data in your account online and aggregates the data online. I love Fuelly and look up real world mpg of cars and motorcycles all the time - but I don't report my own data to them.
Another great app is Gas Buddy. It won't do mileage, but boy is it great for showing you where the cheapest gas is and linking your map program for driving directions. It has been my hobby for years to always get the cheapest gas (without driving out of my way generally). That hobby isn't as effective any more with a small 12 gallon tank and 600 miles between fill ups, but I do what I can do. I also have a credit card that rebates 5% of my gas purchases.
Another great app is Gas Buddy. It won't do mileage, but boy is it great for showing you where the cheapest gas is and linking your map program for driving directions. It has been my hobby for years to always get the cheapest gas (without driving out of my way generally). That hobby isn't as effective any more with a small 12 gallon tank and 600 miles between fill ups, but I do what I can do. I also have a credit card that rebates 5% of my gas purchases.
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